MUNCIE, Ind. (WTHR) - A Ball State University professor who called police during a seating disagreement with a student won't teach classes at the school for the remainder of the semester.
The confrontation, which was captured on camera, showed a classroom confrontation between a student and Dr. Shaheen Borna.
The disagreement was over where the student was seated.
Late Wednesday, a university spokesperson shared this statement:
Dr. Borna will not be teaching classes for the remainder of the semester. This decision is in the best interest of Dr. Borna and the University. The Dean of the Miller College of Business, in consultation with the Provost, made this decision to ensure that we provide continuity in the curriculum, eliminate any unnecessary distractions, and help our students complete the appropriate course expectations.
The Jan. 21 incident happened about halfway through a marketing class when a woman left a seat in the front row of the classroom, according to student Sultan Benson. He says that’s when the professor suddenly instructed him to move to the front seat, which has not been his assigned seat since the start of the semester.
“I told him I ‘didn't want to move’ sir,” said Benson, ‘my laptop is plugged into the charger.’”
Benson said the professor said "move, or have the police called on you."
Two officers arrived to investigate the complaint. During that investigation, according to Benson, other students in the classroom told the officers that Benson had done nothing wrong and had remained calm, even when the professor insisted that he move and threatened to call police on him.
The officers asked Benson if he was a student and if he wanted to move or leave the classroom. The senior decided it would be in his best interest to exit the classroom.
Word about the confrontation spread fast, in part because another student shared cell phone video of the incident. and eventually reached BSU President Geoffrey S. Mearns, who was traveling back to Indiana at the time. Still, Mearns responded immediately upon learning of what happened.
In a message to Eyewitness News, Mearns called the professor’s behavior “a gross error of judgment” and an unwarranted overreaction.
Benson shared with Eyewitness News part of a separate apology the professor emailed to him. Benson said what happened to him warrants more than just an emailed apology.
After filing a formal complaint, Benson says he was given the option of staying or moving to a different class. He opted not to return to the same class.